Samuel e



(No Model.)

S. R. SOHARP.

GRATE DUMPING APPARATUS.

Patented 001:. 30, 1888.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392,137, dated October30, 1888.

Application filed September 24, 1887. Serial No. 250,599. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL R. SOHARF, a citizen of the United States,residing at \Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Grate-Dumping Apparatus; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a new and improved device by which the contentsof the various stoves on a railway-train can be dumped simultaneouslyeither into a water-tank carried under the car or directly onto thetrack-bed, these objects being accomplished by the engineer or firemanon the locomotive in the event of threatened danger by cheap, simple,and effective means when used on those trains in which an air-brakeapparatus is utilized, said dumping apparatus not interfering in any waywith the effectiveness of such air-brake apparatus, nor impairing theheating qualities of the stove or stoves to which it is attached.

The principal novelties of construction in my device consists ofanair-tight cylinder, electro magnet, or solenoid adapted to be placedunder each stove, and whose piston, armature, or core, when moved by thecompressed air from the main reservoir of the above-mentioned air-brakeapparatus or when excited by an electric current, will, by suitablemechanical connections, instantly dump the grate of that stove to whichit is attached, as well as in other minor details, all of which will bemore fully hereinafter described and claimed, and which are illustratedin the accompanying drawings, wherein like letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is avertical transverse section taken through the bottom of a car andthrough the lower portion of a heater, illustrating one device fordumping the grate and discharging the contents through a chute to theground on one side of the car; Fig. 2, a section of a wator-tank to beused instead of the chute for receiving and extinguishing the contentsof the heater; Fig. 3, an elevation of an electro-magnet with theconnections thereto, and Fig. 4 an elevation of a solenoid with itsconnections.

A denotes the bottom of the car, having an opening, A, below the heaterB, which heater is supported upon a suitable base, B, at a properdistance above the opening A, as shown in Fig. 1.

O is a cast or sheet iron cylinder, which extends from the bottom of theheater 13 down through the opening A in the bottom of the car. Thiscylinder is open at both ends, and is provided at its lower end with achute, G, composed of an inclined deflecting-plate, a, riveted or boltedto the cylinder 0, and a door, I), hinged to the cylinder at b, whichdoor is kept normally closed by a spring, I), on the outside. \Vithiuthe upper end of this cylinder O is placed the grate D, pivoted by acenter pin, d, to the grate-frame D, which is hinged at one side, asshown at d. On the opposite side this frame is supported by a slidingpin or bolt, 0, which passes through the wall of the cylinder 0, and iskept in place normally by asmall leaf-spring, c, secured to the cylinderon the outside. This grate-frame is provided, as shown, with a dependingpin or projection, c", which,when'the grate is dumped, strikes againstand forces open the door I) of the chute O to allow the fuel to bedischarged. To the outer end of this sliding pin or bolt c'is connectedthe upper endof the lever E for drawing the pin or bolt to allow thegrate to fall,which lever passes down through a radial slot, f, in thebottom of the car, and is pivoted at its lower end below the car to abracket or other suitable support, F, bolted or otherwise secured to thebottom of the car. This lever may have a hinged upper end, 6, with achain or rope, 0, attached to it, to enable a person in the car to dumpthe grate without disturbing the connections for operating all thegrates simultaneously. At any suitable point on this lever E, betweenits fulcrum and the bottom of the car, is connected the piston-rod Gfrom the piston G in the steam or air cylinder G, which is suspendedfrom the bottom of the car by any suitable means.

Steam or compressed air is supplied to the cylinder G of each car by apipe, H, running from the main reservoir of the engine and communicatingwith each cylinder by means of a short coupling, H, and the pipe H ofeach car should be connected to the pipe of the next car by means offlexible couplings,so as to make a continuous line of pipe. The sectionof pipe belonging to each car should have a cut-oftvalve at each end. \Vhen the train is made up,all of these valves are to be opened, exceptthe valve on the rear end of the pipe on the last car,which is to beclosed, so that no air or steam can escape from the pipe II.

By means of a lever or the like located in the cab of the locomotive,and having suitable connections with a three-way coek,or any othersuitable appliance or valve, steam or air can be admitted to thecylinder G of each car, so as to operate the piston G and its red G,which is connected to the lever E. \Vhen the lever is drawn back, thesliding pin or bolt 0 is with drawn, and the grate falls and dumps thecontents of the stove into and through the chute onto the ground. \Vhenthis is done,thc engineer or fireman, by a similar operation, canexhaust the air or steam from each cylinder through the three-way cock,and by means of a spring, .T, attached to the piston-rod and to thebottom of the car, the parts are reversed to their former position. Thisspring may of course be located in the back end of the cylinder G,behind the piston. The grate can be returned to its proper positionagain by means of achain, attached to it at some convenient point andoperated from the interior of the car, or by means of a poker, and itmay be shaken independently of its frame to remove ashes, &c., by meansof a shaker, 71, inserted through a seat in the side of the stove orheater, as seen by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

It will be evident that the grates can be dumped equally as well and ascheaply and effectively by other agents besides compressed air orsteam-401' instance, electricity--and in Figs. 3 and 4; are shown twodevices by which this latter force may be utilized for doing this.

J represents an electro-magnet adapted to be excited by an electriccurrent from a battery stationed in the cab of the locomotive, where thecircuit may be established by the engineer or fireman by pressing apush-button.

The armature J, pivoted at the point K, is connected by a rod, K, to thelever E, and when attracted by the magnet will, in its movement towardthe same, draw the rod K, lever B, and latch c with it, and theunsupported grate will consequently fall and its contents will bedischarged. Instead of this arrange ment, a solenoid, L, may beemployed, the core I) of which performing exactly the same results asthe armature J.

It will be evident that when the above electrical devices are employedthe compressed air or steam conducting pipes may be dispensed with, andinstead thereof suitable preferably insulated metallic wiressubstituted, provided with couplings at the end of each car.

It will be further apparent that to properly establish the circuit twosets of wires will be neccssary,and that those on the rear end of thelast car should be connected together.

The substitute for the chute O in the form of a water-tank, as shown inFig. 2, consists, preferably, of a scoop-shaped metallic vessel hingedat one end to the bottom of the car an der the cylinder C, and securedat the other end by any suitable fastening that will adapt it to beeasily locked and unlocked for convenience in cleaning, &c. The upperedge of this vessel can be provided all around with an elastic packingto make an air-tight joint with the bottom of the car when in place,although this is not absolutely necessary. To prevent the water fromblocking or jamming, the free end of this tank under the influence ofthe movements of the car, and thereby tending to weaken the fastening tothe car, I provide the partition 0, securely fastened to the bottom ofthe ear and extending down into this tank, and for a similar purpose Iprovide the two downwardly-curved wings 0 0, also fastened to the bottomof the car on each side of the opening for receiving the contentsdischarged from the heater. Vhen the grate is dumped, the contents fallinto the tank and are extinguished by the water contained therein, andwhich can be supplied in any convenient and suitable manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, andwish to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, in a grate-dumping apparatus, of the heater B,located within the car, the pivoted grate D within said heater, thelatch 0, extending through the wall of the heater and supporting theotherwise unsupported end of the grate D, the jointed pivoted lever E,extending outside of the heater and attached at its upper end to thelatch c, the movable'rod G, located beneath the car and attached one endto the lever E, substantially as described, and for the purpose setforth.

2. The combination, in a grate-dumping apparatus, of the heater B,located within the car, the pivoted grate D within the heater, the latch0, extending through the wall of the heater and supporting the otherwiseunsupported end of the grate D, the spring a, hearing against the latchc and normally pressing the same inward toward the heater, the jointedpivoted lever 11, extending outside of the heater and attached at itsupper end to the latch c, the movable rod G, located beneath the car andattached one end to the lever 10 and at the other to the moving elementof a device, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, in a grate-dumping apparatus, of the heater B,located within the car, the pivoted grateD within the heater, the latch0, extending through the wall of the heater and supporting the otherwiseunsupported end of the grate D, the spring 0', hearing against the latchc and normally pressing the same inward toward the heater, theretracting-chain c, by means of which the latch 0 may be withdrawn fromthe interior of the car, the jointed pivoted lever E, extending outsideof the heater and attached at its upper end to the latch c,andthemovable rod G,located beneath the ear and attached one end to the ITOlever E, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a grate-dumping device, the combination, with the heater 0 andgrate D, of a tank pivoted to the bottom of the car, and immovableseparate partition 0', and wings 0" G, securely fastened to the bottomof the car, subis tantially as described, and for the purpose set orth.

5. The combination, in a grate-dumping apparatus, of the heater 13,located within the car, the chute B, beneath the heater and entirelybeneath the outside of the car, the pivoted grate D within the heater,the latch 0, extending through the heater and supporting the otherwiseunsupported end of the grate D, the jointed lever E outside of theheater and attached at one end to the latch c, and movable rod G beneaththe car and connected with the lever E, all adapted to operatesubstantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination, in a grate-dumping apparatus, of the heater B,located within the car, pivoted grate D within the heater, latch 0,extending through the walls of the heater and supporting the otherwiseunsupported end of the grate D, jointed lever E, extending down theoutside of the heater and secured at one end to the latch c, movable rodG beneath the car and connected with the lever E, and aretracting-spring attached to the rod G and tending to bear said rod andlever E in the direction of the heater,and thereby retain the latch c inposition beneath the grate D, all combined and adapted to operatesubstantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL R. SGHARF.

Witnesses:

ALEX. H. J oHNsoN, F. E. PUFFER.

